Taylor Swift kicked off Pride Month with an inspired speech during her June 2 Chicago concert, offering support and encouragement to the LGBTQ community.
“It’s very brave to be vulnerable about your feelings in any situation, but it’s even more brave to be honest about your feelings and who you love when you know that it might be met with adversity from society,” Swift said during a break between songs, according to Billboard. "This month and every month I want to send my love and respect to everybody who has been brave enough to be honest about how they feel, to live their lives as they are, as they feel they should be, as they identify.”
With Pride Month underway, Swift took the opportunity to celebrate of the progress made in the continuing struggle for equality, but also pointed out there is more work to be done.
“This is a month where I think we need to celebrate how far we’ve come, but I think we also need to acknowledge how far we have left to go," Swift said. "I want to send my love and respect to everybody who hasn’t felt comfortable enough to come out yet ... and may you do that on your own time and may we end up in a world where everyone can live and love equally and no one has to be afraid to all say how they feel.”
June is celebrated as Pride Month across the country, with major events planned in New York City, Los Angeles, Washington, D.C., Anchorage, Alaska, Boston and Chicago. Many of the Pride Month celebrations commemorate the anniversary of the Stonewall Rebellion in New York City on June 28, 1969, when demonstrators fought back against the rising number of police raids on bars catering to LGBT patrons, a significant event in the movement for LGBT equality, according to GLAAD.
Swift delivered the speech at Chicago's Soldier Field on the final night of the first leg of her Reputation Tour, which commenced on May 8 in Glendale, Ariz., and is one of the hottest tour tickets this summer. Swift now heads across the pond for six dates in the U.K. before returning to the U.S. for the second leg of the North American tour, which runs from June 30 in Louisville, Ky., and wraps up Oct. 6 in Arlington, Texas.
Ticket availability and information for Swift's Reputation Tour can be accessed via Ticketmaster. A list of Pride Month events across the country can be found here.
